“I have a representative in Bob LaMonte who’s the best at what he does,” Martz told Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times. “I just do whatever he tells me to. He doesn’t tell me how to coach, and I don’t tell him how to negotiate. But he knows how badly I want to be here, and I would like an extension. I don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’ll work out.”

Martz, as is his custom, was fired up about the Bears’ recent draft picks.

On Gabe Carimi: “[Carimi] has too many pluses. It’s hard to find a nick on him.”

On fifth-round QB Nathan Enderle: “We didn’t draft [Enderle] to be the third quarterback. If that was the case, then there was no reason to draft a quarterback.”

In this year-to-year league, Martz’s market value could rise or fall dramatically based on how the 2011 Bears finish. He would have quite a bit of leverage if Jay Cutler continue to progress; the Bears are investing too much in the Martz system.

At this point, we’d guess that Lovie Smith is going to sink or swim with Martz by his side.

23 responses to “Martz on Bears future: “I’m sure it will work out””

As a Packer fan, I can’t deny that da Bears have put together a competitive team since adding Martz and Cutler to the mix. It’s good to see some real competition in the NFC North. Here’s hoping for another Packers/Bears NFC Championship in 2011!

I think that Martz should have declined a contract extension that didn’t include some bump in pay. If the Bears didn’t have the surprisingly good season that they did, the entire coaching regime would find themselves looking for new jobs in a lockout environment. While Martz has his flaws, his upgraded offense (look at the numbers compared to the previous season) saved Lovie Smith’s neck and he did a job worthy of recognition – especially given OL coach Mike Tice was given a raise.

Not a Bears fan but for whatever reason I like all the coaches they have in place for the team. Ownership and your everyday Bears fan seems like they are a real headache. I think I’d want to see them succed because it’s a great story but I have a strong dislike for the owners that I’m torn on the issue. Although a Packers Super Bowl win is sufficient enough to pain Bears ownership and their fans.

Martz has always said positive things even if they aren’t true. But what’s he going to say?

“If the Bears don’t pay me more, I’m outta here…I’m sure another team will pay me more since I’ve obviously improved the Bears….heck maybe someone will be crazy enough to even hire me as a head coach? But whatever happens, I’ll be better off than just signing a contract extension at my current salary”.

The Bears without Martz in the future are screwed, period. Lovie’s Lucky Horseshoe only goes so far, and me thinks he used up a hell of a lot of his luck last year, it’s going to come tumbling down in the near future.

while he has done a great job of upgrading the bears offense,really who would not be an improvement over the clown they had running it before in ron turner? the thing I find curious is what he has against caleb hanie? he could not wait to find a replacement for him as backup to cutler so the bears signed possibly the worst backup ever in collins. how did that work out for you mike? despite not getting any reps hanie did a great job for somebody who never plays in the championship game and his reward is martz wants to replace him with a rookie? just cut him now so he will have a legit chance with a team that needs a qb. hopefuly nothing happens to cutler and you do not have to go with your new project or you and the bears will be in big trouble.

While Martz has his flaws, his upgraded offense (look at the numbers compared to the previous season) saved Lovie Smith’s neck and he did a job worthy of recognition.
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Sorry but the Bears went from 23rd in offense in 2009 to 30th under Martz.
The season turned around after the bye week when Martz was pulled aside and told that the offense would not be run the same way because he was getting Jay Cutler killed.
When the Bears started balancing the ratio between rushing attempts and passing attempts they started winning games.

Martz and his system are wrong the wrong fit for Cutler and the neglect of the O line for years magnifies that.

Martz has the same problem that every arrogant, wanna-be-evil-genius has: He has convinced himself that his system/scheme is more important than the players on the field.

An 8th grader could have predicted that dropping Cutler back behind that O-Line was going to get him killed. Great way to ruin a QB, if he survives. Several QBs have permanently lost the ability make their reads and progressions, then deliver accurately after spending a season or two getting beaten up behind inadequate blocking with unrealistic game plans. Cutler can grow within a version of the offense that gets the ball out more quickly, gets him out of the pocket, and balances with the run, but he needs to live long enough to do it. And Martz needs to adjust to the strengths and weaknesses of his players, rather than looking for his next great find at QB (I believe he stumbled over Kurt Warner more than he discovered him). In Martz’s defense, he showed signs that he can adjust, now he needs to do it consistently instead of trying to force gameplans that look cool on paper (i.e., the Giants game)

Cutler corrected most of his mistakes from 2009, the sole exception being 1 very bad half against DeAngelo Hall, and showed clear progression. He got 1 more yard per attempt, 2 yards per completion, kept the same accuracy despite throwing the ball away while under pressure, he actually threw more touchdowns per pass in 2010 than 2009 (5.3% versus 4.9%) and his team was in the NFC championship.

When a guy improves in every meaningful way while getting sacked 52 times in 420 passing attempts and helped his team get into position for a playoff run, it’s probably time to find another QB to troll.

And before you read too much into my comparison to Manning, no I don’t think Cutler is, or will be as good as, Peyton Manning. No, I don’t think Jay Cutler is one of the 10 best QBs in the NFL (Manning, Brady, Rodgers, Rivers, Roethlisberger, Brees, Romo, Ryan, Schaub and yes, I think Josh Freeman…Cutler’s not far behind this list with McNabb, Eli Manning, Flacco, Bradford [for now], etc). Just a way to compare uber-talents at QB who weren’t very polished early in their careers.

Peyton Manning was 42-38 and had 100 interceptions in his first 80 starts. He clearly has become a smarter and sharper player. He always had the physical talent. Cutler is 34-34 and has 79 interceptions in 68 career starts, he has the talent, and based on how well he handled a very difficult circumstance in 2010, I think he has an opportunity to sharpen his own game. Best is yet to come for this guy.